Hydraulic Energy

Introduction
About 70 percent of the Earth is covered with ocean water. 98 percent of the
water on Earth is in the ocean and is undrinkable because it is salty. 2 percent
of the water on Earth is freshwater and is drinkable. However, 1.6 percent of
freshwater is frozen in the polar ice caps. But no matter where the water is, it
is moving and it is part of the global water cycle. The water cycle occurs
when water evaporates from bodies of water on Earth, like oceans, and
then condenses into clouds. Eventually, the clouds become too heavy and the
water returns to Earth in the form of rain or snow, also called
precipitation. When the water comes back to Earth, some of it flows back
into the ocean. As water moves back to the ocean via rivers or waterfalls, it
carries a lot of energy with it. We can harness this energy to make electricity
or to power machines. This is called hydropower. Because water is constantly
and endlessly moving through the water cycle, hydropower is a renewable
form of energy, which means the energy can be obtained over and over
through natural processes.
Hydroelectricity is a type of hydropower. According to the United States
Department of Energy, in the year 2005, hydropower accounted for 7 percent
of the total U.S. electricity generation and 73 percent of generation from
renewable energy sources. The advantages of hydropower are that it creates no
pollution and it is available whenever it's needed. We create hydropower in
hydropower plants. There are three kinds of hydropower
plants: impoundment, diversion, and pumped storage. Some power plants
have dams and some do not. In each type of power plant, flowing water
pushes a turbine that generates electricity.
Humans have been using hydropower for centuries, harnessing the change
from potential energy to kinetic energy of water. Potential energy is the
energy stored in an object. For example, if you stretch a rubber band, it now
has potential energy; it is ready to snap back to its original state. Kinetic
energy is the energy of motion. Once you let go of the rubber band and it is
moving through the air, it has kinetic energy. The potential energy stored in
the stretched rubber band changes to kinetic energy as soon as you let go of it.
The Greeks attached waterwheels to grinding wheels and used the kinetic
energy in falling water to grind grain into flour. Waterwheels have also been

used to saw logs in sawmills and to provide irrigation for farms along rivers,
we will extract energy from water. We will convert the kinetic energy from
falling water into mechanical energy. See how falling water can lift a small
weight. If just a little flow of water can lift a weight, imagine the amazing
energy of the Niagara Falls!

Materials and Equipment

Aluminum pie plate, 9 inches; available at all grocery stores
Scissors
Permanent marker
hammer and 5/16-inch width nail
Epoxy glue
Scotch tape
Wood dowel, 5/16 inch wide and 2 feet long
Plastic bucket with removable handle, 14 quarts
Cotton string, 30-inch-long piece
Metal nut or other small metal object that string can be tied to
Measuring cup, 2-cup is best
Stopwatch

Lab notebook

Experimental Procedure
1. Take your scissors and cut out the flat bottom part of the aluminum pie
plate.

2. With the permanent marker, copy the design from the waterwheel
template onto the circle of aluminum. Draw the lines from the edge of
the circle to about 2 centimeters (cm) from the middle of the circle.
3. Cut the aluminum circle along the eight solid lines. End each cut at 2
cm from the center. These are the paddles of the waterwheel.
4. Carefully bend each paddle at its dotted line. Put the ruler at each dotted
line so that you can make a straight bend.
5. Drill a 5/16-inch hole through the middle of the waterwheel. Ask an
adult to help you and always wear safety goggles when using power
tools. You could also use a hammer and nail to make the -inch hole in
the middle. If you use a hammer and nail, clip off any sharp metal edges
around the hole with the scissors.
6. Glue the nylon spacer to the middle of the waterwheel. Be careful to
follow the instructions on the epoxy glue package. Ask an adult for
help. The nylon spacer stiffens the waterwheel.
7. Wait until the glue is fully dry before continuing. Consult the packaging
of the epoxy for drying times.
8. After the glue dries, use thin strips of Scotch tape to secure the nylon
spacer to the waterwheel. Make sure that the hole in the center is not
covered with tape. Set the waterwheel aside.
9. Remove the handle from the bucket. Now ask an adult to drill two 3/8inch holes where the ends of the handle use to be. Always wear safety
goggles when using power tools. Make sure that the wood dowel can fit
comfortably through the holes and spin freely. It should not be a tight
fit.
10.Wind a piece of Scotch tape around the middle of the wood dowel. This
is to add some thickness in order to keep the waterwheel in place. Now
insert the dowel through the holes of the bucket. Move the dowel out of
one of the holes and carefully slip the waterwheel onto the dowel over
the piece of tape. Reinsert the dowel through the hole in the bucket.
Turn the waterwheel and make sure that the wood dowel turns as well.
If the dowel doesn't move, you should gently move the waterwheel off
of the tape and wind another piece of tape over the original piece of tape

to add thickness so the two objects move at the same time. The
waterwheel must sit tightly on the dowel so that when the waterwheel
turns, the dowel turns.

Terms and Concepts

Water cycle
Condensation
Precipitation
Hydropower
Impoundment plant
Diversion plant
Pumped storage plant
Turbine
Potential energy
Kinetic energy
Mechanical energy
Energy
Power

Questions
What is hydropower?
What are the advantages of hydropower? Are there any disadvantages?

 How many different kinds of hydropower plants are there? What are the
differences between the different kinds of power plants?

Bibliography
The following websites are full of interesting information on hydropower. The
Department of Energy website allows you to research many different kinds of
renewable energy.
United States Department of Energy. (2010, December 4). Renewable
Energy. Retrieved September 21, 2012 from http://energy.gov/scienceinnovation/energy-sources/renewable-energy
Wikipedia Contributors. (2008, June 13). Water wheel. Wikipedia: The
Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved June 20, 2008
fromhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?
title=Water_wheel&oldid=219009066
Wikipedia Contributors. (2008, June 22). Hydropower. Wikipedia: The
Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved June 23, 2008
from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?
title=Hydropower&oldid=221028761
Wikipedia Contributors. (2008, June 19). Hydroelectricity. Wikipedia:
The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved June 23, 2008
fromhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?
title=Hydroelectricity&oldid=220461543

Instituto Morazzanni
Scientific Project Designing
Report
Javier Leonor & Mario Turcios
Mrs. Gabriela Cruz
11 C
May/11/2016